Katrina Pusey - Delaware Aviation Pioneer

This is the story of a groundbreaking woman, wealth, tragedy, love affairs, airplanes, broken hearts, and lawsuits. The story of Katrina Pusey, an aviation pioneer in Delaware. 

Katrina Elizabeth Pusey was born in 1904 as the only child of Edward R. and Clara I. Pusey. Edward was a successful and well-connected coal merchant. The Pusey’s lived at 1513 N. Franklin Street where Edward provided a good life for Katrina. She graduated from Tower Hill School in 1923 and enrolled in National Park Seminary in Washington, D.C. Often, when she returned to Wilmington she would entertain friends on her father’s yacht, Bunny II. She graduated from the seminary in 1925. In November 1925 Katrina’s father was tragically lost at sea when his yacht, Bunny II burned off the coast of South Carolina.

For many years the Pusey’s maintained a residence in Rehoboth, and continued to do so after the loss of Mr. Pusey at sea. It was at the beach, on March 26, 1928, Katrina enjoyed a moment of fame. The Evening Journal ran a story about Pusey being the first bather of the season at Rehoboth. The paper explained that Miss Pusey “disported in the water for some time before an admiring crowd.” One of the things I really enjoy about doing research is stumbling upon long-disused words such as disported. To disport means to play in a carefree way or to amuse yourself in a lighthearted fashion. Now try to imagine Katrina disporting in such a way that she drew a crowd and made the newspaper in Wilmington.

Katarina spent most of her 20’s in the newspapers. On September 29, 1928, after a whirlwind romance, Katrina married Theodore William Canning of Wilmington. Canning had been a laundry wagon driver who got into radio sales and then made a small fortune trading stocks. The marriage was a surprise for many, Canning moved in with Katrina and her mother. On October 23, 1929 the Evening Journal reported that both Mr. and Mrs. Canning signed up for flying lessons. On March 18, 1930 they obtained their licenses, making Katrina the second woman in Delaware to earn her wings and the pair the first married couple in Delaware to do so. On May 3, 1930 the Evening Journal reported the couple purchased a brand-new biplane manufactured by the Waco-Wright Company of Detroit. 

All was not well, just a few months later on June 18, 1930 the Morning News reported that Mrs. Clara I. Pusey had her son-in-law arrested for embezzling $4,000. Theodore Canning had lost his estimated $250,000 fortune in the stock market crash and was depending upon the Pusey family fortune to maintain his lifestyle and apparently got too greedy. Three days later the charges were dropped at the request of Mrs. Pusey. The Canning marriage was on the rocks. 

Now estranged from Theodore, Katrina moved to Baltimore and earned her Limited Commercial pilot’s license. She also took the position of secretary of the Curtiss-Wright Flying Club in Baltimore and in January 1931 took a job as a hostess with Eastern Air Transport working between Newark, N.J. and Washington, D.C. In March she left the airline and returned to Wilmington to reconcile with Theodore and the two set off on an airplane tour of the midwest. On November 19 the Evening Journal reported that the couple had just purchased a new Stinson airplane. 

We don’t know much about what happened after purchasing the airplane but we do know on November 27 Theodore Canning departed on an ocean liner to Europe with a business associate, the retired Rev. Thomas Cooper. 

A little over a month later, on January 8, 1932 the Salem (Ohio) News announced that a man named Theodore W. Canning of Wilmington, Delaware, then 28, had married an Ohio woman on December 9, 1931, while in Rome, Italy. The lucky bride was 19-year-old Miss Ann Sharer of Alliance, Ohio. The young Ohio bride was not only beautiful, but also an heiress to a multi-million dollar estate. Her parents had both died when she was younger and she was raised by her wealthy Uncle, Col. William Henry Morgan, and lived on his estate, Glamorgan Castle. 

The next day the story broke in the Wilmington papers and the biggest scandal of recent memory started to unfold in Wilmington. The local papers speculated if it was the Theodore Canning everyone knew. Two days later, on January 11, Katrina had no confirmation. Through the month of January the sensational story was printed in newspapers all over the country. 

Theodore and Ann Sharer had a torrid romance aboard the ship and then toured various European cities together. The story of the wedding was apparently untrue but it was confirmed Sharer would await for the Cannings to divorce and then marry Theodore. 

In March 1932, Katrina not only filed for divorce but also filed a $50,000 lawsuit against Sharer claiming that Sharer, “deprived her of her husband’s society, aid and support, and willfully and wickedly gained his affections.” The suit was quietly settled out of court. 

On January 3, 1934 the Cannings divorce went through but by then Sharer had cooled to Theodore and he lost his chance at the big money. In July 1934, Ann Sharer married Harry Barnes Johansen, a shoe manufacturer from St. Louis. The two eventually divorced in 1953. Theodore Canning disappeared into obscurity and died in 1958 with not so much as an obituary.

Let’s get back to Katrina, this is a story about Katrina. Katrina took back her maiden name as part of the divorce. She never lost her passion for flight and was back in the sky in her own plane. On June 4, 1934 she took part in an air show before 5,000 spectators at the Curtiss-Wright Airport in Baltimore where she came in 3rd place in the light airplane race. She participated in a number of “air carnivals,” as they were known back then, rubbing elbows with many of the early female aviators. She loved flying and was quoted saying, “I would rather be in the air for one hour, than on the ground for one year.”

In 1934 she also moved to Cambridge, Maryland and started flying crop inspectors around the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the Phillips Packing Company. Reportedly this was the first service of it’s type. On June 20, 1934 only two weeks into her new job, her plane’s motor shut off and nose dived to the ground from about 50 feet while taking off for a crop inspection. Katrina was taken to Salisbury Hospital where her condition was listed as critical. She suffered from broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured knee, and a gashed head. The plane was reportedly tampered with by local youngsters.

Later she said she knew little about when crops were ready to pick, but that day she found out ripe or green, they “squash like the dickens when an Aeronca plows into a field of them and rolls up in a ball.”

The 29-year-old spent 6 weeks in the hospital but went right back into the cockpit. On December 20, 1934 Col. Albanus Phillips, the wealthy owner of the Phillips Packing Company, sent her on an important mission, a “race with Santa” to deliver an Irish Setter puppy to a friend in Texas. The plane was decorated with the Phillips Packing logo and cans of soup painted on the sides. The event was a spectacle and Katrina was once again in newspapers nationwide.

Katrina took a job as a stenographer but did not give up flying recreationally, she was known locally as the flying stenographer. We know that she kept flying into the 1940s and that she was on the civilian staff at Fort Miles at Cape Henlopen during World War II. After that, she disappeared from the spotlight and lived quietly with her mother in Rehoboth until she passed away at age 60 on May 5, 1965. Her obituary was short and failed to mention her groundbreaking accomplishments. On July 20, 1967 the Wilmington newspapers reported that her mother, Mrs. Clara I. Pusey passed away in Rehoboth at age 86. There were no surviving descendants.  

 

“I would rather be in the air for one hour, than on the ground for one year.” -Katrina Elizabeth Pusey, groundbreaking woman and pioneer in Delaware Aviation History

 

The Great Elsmere Bulldozer Rampage

North Dupont Road is generally a quiet place.

The small town of Elsmere does not make the national news often, but it did in 1961. Former Elsmere resident, J.C.’s account of the day: 

A Normal Day

Thanksgiving Day 1961 started out for Mom & Dad just like any other in the past, but was destined to become an epic day for the family because of me, my brother Bill and another set of brothers. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for a while, so Bill and I went outside to play. We got up with our friends, two brothers who lived down the street, and went in search of something to do.That something was using pieces of cardboard to slide down the dirt hill at a construction company’s equipment storage site. There happened to be a bulldozer sitting at the site across from the dirt hill, so while some of us were sliding, others went to investigate the bulldozer. I was on the other side of the hill when all of the sudden I heard the sound of a machine starting up. Looking over, I saw a plume of smoke coming out of the bulldozer’s stack. Bill was the last one off as it started to move backwards… Needless to say, we all ran the other way as fast as we could.The last I saw, the bulldozer was nearing a large boulder. I felt the boulder would stop the machine, and it would sit there and run till it ran out of gas. Boy was I ever so wrong.

We ran through an open field by the railroad tracks and looped around to the upper end of the neighborhood. That way we would be coming home from a different direction than the running bulldozer and could claim that we had nothing to do with it.

The rock did not stop the bulldozer, all it did was give a slight alteration to its course.  After glancing off the bolder, it backed through the equipment yard fence, through the construction company’s office, demolishing it, then down a row of supports for a pole barn that was being built to store the construction company’s equipment.   

The 20-ton bulldozer was parked on the property of masonry contractor Charles Cocciolone, where the boys were playing. The machine was owned by John Julian Construction Company, who was doing some work for Cocciolone at the time. The first bit of damage described by J.C. was at the site of the Rushton Tree Service, whose office was obliterated.

Preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner.

After exiting the Rushton property, the bulldozer slowly continued along toward the rear of the home of John Goheen at 108 N. Dupont Road. Goheen had just left home to go to the store, but his daughter Thelma, and housekeeper Dolly Pierce were in the kitchen, located in the rear of the home, preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner. They heard a rumbling noise as the huge machine entered the property, first flattening a fence, then toppling a tree. Pierce looked out the kitchen window and saw the rampaging dozer about to crash through the kitchen wall. Frantically, she grabbed Thelma, who was blind, and the two made it into the dining room just as the dozer tore into the kitchen, ripping down two walls, leaving only the range undamaged. 

This Philadelphia Bulletin photo shows the extent of the damage 
to the Goheen's kitchen at 108 N. Dupont Road

The unmanned dozer then entered the property of J. Rodman Steele, Sr. at 112 N. Dupont Road. Steele’s son, Rodman Steele, Jr,  a junior at the University of Delaware,, was home for the holiday and upstairs in his room when he heard the sound of the bulldozer crashing through the Goheen house next door. Steele recalls looking out his window and seeing it coming through Goheen's kitchen. He started yelling to his parents, ran down the stairs, burst out the front door and saw Thelma Goheen and Dolly Pierce come out of their front door at the same moment.

The 20-ton bulldozer changed its trajectory slightly when it crossed over a small embankment between the properties. It missed the Steele home, but it flattened shrubbery, knocked over a pair of gate posts, and struck Steele's car.

The dozer then made its way to 116 N. Dupont Road, where it rammed a car owned by Miss. Lois Dougherty, crushing it, shoving it along for 20 feet, and then carried its trunk another 33 feet. Striking Dougherty's car caused the dozer to slightly pivot again and cross Dupont Road where it then struck a 1959 Rambler owned by Charles Boyer of 119 N. Dupont Road. Boyer's car was dragged along under the blade of the dozer as it continued backwards another 28 feet before the runaway dozer plowed under a 4-foot-square stone driveway pillar. 

This Morning News photo shows the wreckage of Charles Boyer's 1959
Rambler after being run over and dragged behind the bulldozer.

J. Rodman Steele, Jr. decided he was going to try to shut off the runaway dozer. Climbing onto the machine over the moving treads was a very dangerous prospect. Instead, he ran up behind the slow-moving bulldozer, climbed onto and over the blade as it was running in reverse, and then into the driver’s seat. Once in the driver’s seat, Steele attempted to stop the dozer. He was joined by Charles Boyer who climbed on as the bulldozer was passing the home of Charles R. Beattie, Sr. at 121 N. Dupont Road.

Newspaper stories credit Steele with turning off the runaway dozer, and saving the day. However, he recalled that in spite of trying all of the various levers and buttons, he wasn't having any luck. Fortunately, it ran into a tree that was just too stout for it to push over. The bulldozer’s treads were unable to dig in, and just pushed the dirt away from under it. As it was bogged down on the tree, Steele finally managed to turn off the engine, bringing the runaway bulldozer’s rampage to an end just 20 feet before making a direct strike on the home of Charles L. Brown at 125 N. Dupont Road. 

This Evening Journal photo shows where the runaway 
bulldozer came to rest. The home of Charles L. Brown at
125 N. Dupont Road is directly in its path.

Mom Fainted

J.C. and Bill’s father was coming home from Choir practice when he came across the aftermath of the bulldozer’s wrath. He hurried home to get the family so they could see the wreckage, However, J.C. and Bill were not at home at the time so he just brought their mother and sister. Shortly thereafter J.C. and Bill made it home, J.C. explains, “when we got home, no one was there so Bill and I went into the living room and turned on the TV. We had not been watching too long when everyone came home. My sister Elaine, came running into the living room and demanded to know why we started the bulldozer. She had no idea we were involved, and was just kidding us. Bill and I both broke out in tears and cried, “We didn’t mean to!” Mom fainted on the spot! Luckily, Dad was able to catch her as she fell.”

Once Mom came to, and we got things sorted out, Dad took Bill and I down the street to let the police know who was responsible. It was then that my brother and I saw what really happened while we were running away.

We were amazed at the damage we caused. I’m sure Dad was at a loss for words as he tried to explain to the police officer what we had told him about our part in the afternoon’s events.  Bill told us that as they pulled the various levers, he was saying, Eni, meini, minie, mo, push this button and away we go. And it went!”

The four boys were taken by the police to the home of Magistrate Dolores Hamilton of Cooper Farms, and were charged with malicious mischief. (In those days, magistrates worked from their homes.) They were released into the custody of their parents pending an appearance in Family Court.

The following day the John Julian Construction Company’s insurance adjustor surveyed the path of destruction. The damage to the Goheen’s house was listed at $4,000, Steele's car $100, Dougherty's car $700, Boyer's 1959 Rambler was totaled at $1,350. Those items along with the other buildings, trees, shrubbery, fences and even some Christmas presents that were hidden in the trunk of one of the cars brought the grand total of estimated damages to $10,000, the equivalent of about $86,000 in 2020. As it turned out, Goheen had just signed a contract to have his kitchen remodeled. The contractor was supposed to start work on it the Monday after Thanksgiving. So everything worked out well for him. He got his new kitchen, but didn't have to pay for it. 

 The investigators met with the 4 boys' parents as part of the process to determine who was financially responsible for the destruction. While James Julian had enough insurance to pay for the damages, he wasn’t sure whether he was responsible or not. “A representative of my insurance company is coming from Philadelphia today to discuss the whole thing with the boys’ parents.” said Julian. 

Patrolman Noland said there were no keys on the bulldozer and the only way to lock it is to remove plugs or disconnect wires. Local residents said that other boys had actually managed to start the bulldozer two weeks before, but they did not set it into motion.

A Day in Court

When the boys finally went to Family Court the judge was not happy with the fact that they had been charged and brought into court in the first place, due to all the boys being between the ages of 8 and 10. The judge then ruled that the dozer should not have been left unsecured and declared the bulldozer was an “attractive nuisance.” Because of this, the boys were all found to be not guilty, and Julian's insurance eventually covered the cost of the rampage. 

When J.C. turned 16 he started working at the Rockford Esso, soon to be Exxon, station over by the Augustine bridge in Wilmington. He recalls a young guy came in one day for an oil change and while he was doing it they started talking. In the course of the conversation J.C. found out that the guy was John Julian's son. He told J.C. that his father was not a happy camper with the ruling, but the son felt that the judge was right. J.C. points out, “the son was a regular at the service station and I ended up doing a lot of work on his car. Small world.”

The story was picked up by the wire services and was printed in hundreds of newspapers across the country. J.C.’s Aunt in Iowa read about it in their local paper. It has largely been forgotten until now. 

Special thanks to J. Rodman Steele, Jr. and J.C. for sharing their stories. The last names of J.C, and Bill have been withheld. The names of the other brothers have been completely removed. As they were minors at the time and since Delaware is Delaware, someone may know their identity, please don’t post their full names in the comments.

Wilmington's Role in The Lady Bird Special

Early 1900s Postcard View of Wilmington Shops

Wilmington has been a railroad town since America became connected by steel rails. There are countless bits of history tied to Wilmington and its railroads. This little bit tells how in 1964 the employees at the Pennsylvania Railroad's shop at Wilmington played a role in making history. 

On October 6, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson's wife, Lady Bird Johnson, did something no other First Lady had ever done. Instead of campaigning along side of her husband, she embarked on a solo campaign tour. The ground-breaking four-day, 1,628-mile campaign trip took place aboard a train dubbed The Lady Bird Special. She traveled through eight southern states, campaigning on behalf of her husband. 

Library of Congress Photo by Marion S. Trikosko

Lady Bird was able to promote her husband's agenda while using her own southern roots to carefully balance southern tradition with idea of Civil Rights. The First Lady and her staff planned the tour and she personally contacted the various elected officials in each of the eight states to lay the groundwork for her stops. The food served on board was all southern cuisine chosen by Lady Bird herself. 

The Morning News,  Oct_2, 1964
Photo by Bill Snead

Blueprint use by the workers at Wilmington
U.S. National Archives

The Democratic National Committee went to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to supply a luxury railcar, called an observation car for Lady Bird. The parlor-observation car, Queen Mary, was selected. In September 1964 the craftsmen at the PRR's Wilmington shops took on the task to refurbish and repaint the car for the First Lady's historic journey. Lady Bird's train was 19 cars, but only her observation car, was painted red, white, and blue with unique Lady Bird Special lettering. The open platform of the observation car was fitted with a podium and loudspeakers. 

The Evening Journal, Oct 2, 1964
Photo by Bill Snead

Photo from Facebook
by Ed Swientochowski

National Endowment for the Humanities
photographer unknown

Lady Bird's help was badly needed because the south was in turmoil over the Civil Rights movement. Lady Bird said, “I want to go because I am proud of the South and I am proud that I am part of the South.”  Lady Bird's press secretary Liz Carpenter later wrote, “Our star attraction was a Southern-bred First Lady. We were supposed to blow kisses and spread love through eight states and make them like it….”

LBJ Postcard
LBJ Library

In four days, Lady Bird traveled from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans making 47 speeches in 47 towns to approximately 500,000 southerners. President Johnson won the election and Lady Bird is credited with helping him win many votes in the south. 

Lady Bird's observation car was returned to regular service for a number of years before being sold off and used as part of a railroad-themed restaurant in Wayne, New Jersey. It was scrapped in the early 2000s. 

The former Lady Bird Special in Wayne, NJ
Railfan.net by Rob Schoenberg

The former PRR Wilmington Shops continue to play an important role for Amtrak and employ many men and women who continue Wilmington's historic and economic ties to the nation's railroad system. 

The Kiamensi Spring Water Company

Long ago, about 4 miles west of Wilmington, there was a bottling plant along the banks of the Red Clay Creek. Today the site of the former Kiamensi Springs Company sits Almost Forgotten in the woods behind the neighborhood of Albertson Park. Check out our new video and learn about the Kiamensi Springs Company, who quenched the thirst of locals for 15 years a century ago. We're taking a bit of a new approach with this topic with this short video presented in cooperation with Greenbank Mills and Philips Farm. 

We've written about Brandywine Springs before and there is more to come. The park is filled with stories that need to be told. We're excited to work with Greenbank Mill and Philips Farm. More Valley Vignettes will be coming your way in the coming months. 

Walk Through History at Brandywine Springs

New Castle County has put out a new video showcasing Brandywine Springs Park. The once-famous park is filled with history and has been the subject of our research on numerous projects. Markers have been installed throughout the park by Friends of Brandywine Springs. Even though we recently posted about Brandywine Springs, we wanted to share the new video and thank New Castle County for showcasing the park. With spring-like weather ahead, Brandywine Springs is a great place to take a socially-distant walk to get a little exercise and learn a few things. 

Brandywine Springs is a real gem and worth a visit. We're doing our part to spread the word about the park, which offers a great blend of nature and history. Look for more Almost Forgotten History blog posts about Brandywine Springs in the coming weeks.

Union Park Gardens

Evening Journal
October 7, 1892

In the late 1800s the western city limits of Wilmington were at Union Street. Located on the large undeveloped space west of Union Street at Front Street (now Lancaster Ave), there was a park known as the Front & Union Park or sometimes known as the Union Street Park. This park held picnic grounds, athletic fields, and various attractions. The athletic grounds were used for track & field games and even bicycle racing but baseball was the mainstay. In 1882 the Wilmington Quicksteps leased the grounds and built stands for 700 people. The lease did not allow liquor, gambling, or games on Sunday. The Quicksteps were a professional team that played in the Union League. Musical acts, circuses, and traveling shows would also set up there as well. The park was situated at the end of the Front Street trolley line and easily accessible to most Wilmingtonians. 

Evening Journal
1-19-1918

On April 6, 1917 America entered the Great War and soon after, found its manufacturing capabilities woefully unprepared. To fight a war on another continent America was going to need to transport a lot of men and material across the Atlantic Ocean. German U-Boats were sinking a lot of ships, 5,000 of them over the course of the war. To meet the needs of wartime shipbuilding production the Emergency Fleet Corporation was created to build and operate merchant ships to move war materials.

Wilmington had always been a shipbuilding city and getting its shipyards turning out merchant ships was a top priority. The Emergency Fleet Corporation took over shipbuilders Harlan & Hollingsworth and Pusey & Jones. Workers were pouring into the city as the shipyards swung into full gear. Wilmington’s shipbuilding industry was soon faced with a serious problem. There was no place to house the newly-arrived shipyard workers. 

Evening Journal 5-25-1918

The Liberty Land Company was formed to undertake a huge building project to house the shipyard workers. The 58-acre Front & Union Park on the west side of the city was an ideal location for a large housing project. The property was purchased and the project got underway, Meanwhile shipyard workers were overwhelming Wilmington and the housing situation was critical. 

Site plan of Union Park Gardens 

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

Town planner and landscape architect John Nolen, a native of Philadelphia was selected to design the neighborhood in the style of the English Garden movement. The Philadelphia architecture and engineering firm Ballinger and Perrot worked with Nolen designing the houses. The Lynch Construction company of New York was selected as the general contractor. The new neighborhood was named Union Park Gardens honoring the old picnic grounds and athletic fields. 

June 25, 1918
Morning News

Ground was broken on June 24, 1918 and a literal army of workers started right away. The initial crew was 200 men but it was increased to 1,000 as soon as dormitories and mess halls were built.  

Temporary dormitories for the workers can be seen going up in this photo dated 8-23-1918. 
Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

In short order the workforce was increased to 2,400 
and peaked at 3,755. This could have been the largest and quickest residential construction project ever undertaken in Delaware, with nearly all the work done by hand. Pick and shovel laborers were paid 40 cents per hour and skilled tradesmen 75 cents. 

The amount of manpower is evident in this photo dated 8-23-1918.

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

Because of its size, this project caused a brick shortage in the Wilmington area. The Lynch Construction Company placed an order for twelve million bricks. It took the city’s two brick manufacturers 40 days working around the clock to meet the order.

Machines were nearly non-existent as seen in this view of the 200 block of Union Street dated 11-1-1918.

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

Even though motorized trucks were coming into use, the vast majority of materials were delivered using horse and wagon. In addition to the 3,755 men, hundreds of horses were used as well. With that much manpower the houses began to rise quickly on the former picnic grounds. 

201 S. Union Street is shown here under construction in this photo dated 11-1-1918.

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

Every single brick, piece of lumber, and shingle was offloaded from wagons by hand to staging areas and then carried into place when needed. 

204 S. Bancroft Parkway is is shown here under construction in this photo dated 11-1-1918.

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

By October of 1918, just 4 months after ground was broken, the first of the houses were ready for occupancy. 

201-207 S. Bancroft Parkway & 2100-2106 Biddle Street are shown here nearly finished in this photo dated 11-1-1918.

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

The War to End all Wars ended on 11-11-1918, and suddenly building huge numbers of ships was no longer a priority. Production and manpower was cut at the shipyards and subsequently the Lynch Construction Company slowed down construction on Union Park Gardens. 

The corner of Lancaster Ave. and Bancroft Parkway is seen here on 11-1-1918. 

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

In July of 1919 about 300 of the 506 houses were occupied and work was progressing slowly. The houses were owned by the United State Shipping Board and rented to the shipyard workers.

The same location is seen a month later.  

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

The families wanted to own the homes rather than rent, but they were not for sale. The government poured $5 million dollars into the massive effort to build the neighborhood which amounts to about $10,000 per house. At that time, the going rate for houses was about one third of that amount. 

The residents of Union Park Garden wanted to purchase the houses directly, however the government wanted to sell the entire lot to an investor.  On November 20, 1920 the United State Shipping Board listed the entire neighborhood for sale by means of a sealed bid. 

Biddle Street is seen here on 11-1-1918. 

Courtesy Cornell University Library. 

There was only one bid for the entire neighborhood and a flurry of bids for individual properties by the tenants. The Industrial Trust Company of Wilmington was the lone bidder for the entire property with a bid of $1.15 million. All bids were rejected as too low and a request went out for bids again with a $2 million minimum. In the meantime with reduced work at the shipyard workers were demanding a reduction in rent. Union Park Gardens had become a financial albatross. 

On April 21, 1921 the Morning News announced that Union Park Gardens was sold to a Philadelphia syndicate for $1.6 million, but soon after, the deal fell through. On February 27, 1922 over 5,000 people attended an auction that sold 286 of the properties at prices ranging from $2,000 to $4,500. The remaining properties were sold the next day. The two-day auction brought in $1.57 million. 

The saga doesn't end there. By July, the purchasers still had not gotten deeds to their properties. Senator T. Coleman DuPont was called upon to lean on the United State Shipping Board which got things moving. By the end of July, with over 500 deeds coming into his office, Darlington Flinn, the county Recorder of Deeds, had to appoint 5 extra clerks to process the paperwork. 

The Evening Journal - February 18, 1922

By the early part of August the final deeds were recorded, and the government was finally rid of its housing business in Wilmington. The majority of the ships built by the Emergency Fleet Corporation never made it into wartime service and were converted into cargo ships. This caused a huge glut of new ships, which drove down prices that resulted in another huge financial loss for government. 

The neighborhood known as The Flats was also built at the same time. That will have to be the subject for another post. Darlington Flinn, the Recorder of Deeds, is also on the list for a future post. 

If you have a story or memory of Union Park Gardens please post it below in the comments. 

Charles "Kid" Finney, Delaware's First African-American Professional Athlete

Most people in Delaware have never heard of Charles Henry “Kid” Finney, but during the early twentieth century he was well known to sports fans in both the First State and the region. Finney was born in Dover around 1887, his exact birthdate remains a mystery because during that time accurate records were not kept, and throughout his life, Finney himself reported his age inconsistently. 

He grew up in what he

described as a tough part of Dover, known as Kirben’s Row. In 1953 Finney told the Journal Every-Evening that it was on Kirben’s Row that young boys in the neighborhood used to put on pillow-like gloves and box. Finney soon “licked all of the boys in his gang” and took up boxing as his livelihood. 

Eventually, the skinny kid from Kirben’s Row proved himself to be one of Delaware’s great boxers. The 1900 US Census shows Finney was living in the Marshallton area where he would soon make his mark.


In 1903 Finney was filmed by the Edison Company for the short comedy, "A Scrap in Black and White." The film was one nine made at Brandywine Springs in 1903. All nine survive today. They are the oldest surviving films made in Delaware.

At this time, prizefighting was illegal in Delaware however boxing itself was not illegal. Boxers were allowed to be paid to fight, they were paid a flat fee and not permitted to win a prize. In the early 1900s it was nearly impossible for African Americans to participate in professional sports. Countless great athletes were never able to cross the “color line.” Even the most impressive demonstrations of athleticism were largely ignored by the newspapers. Often when a newspaper paper ran a story, it would diminish the accomplishment and reduce the dignity of these athletes by referring to them with racial slurs.

African Americans in boxing were typically limited to boxing in “battle royal” fights that were offered as an opening act at boxing events or simply staged as a spectacle. A promoter would find six to ten African Americans and have them all fight at once, slugging away at each other until one man was left standing.

In 1936 Finney told the Journal Every-Evening that it was in one of these battle royals near Brandywine Springs where he started his career as a professional 

Morning News 4-30-1910

pugilist in 1905. Finney won the battle royal and was awarded the sum of one dollar. It is easy to close your eyes and imagine a group of skinny, ragged, young African-American men slugging away at each other whilst a large group of men surround them yelling and cheering. Sometimes men would toss coins in during the match and the boxers would simply stop when the coins stopped. Side bets were often a big part of the battle royal. The next week the local boxing club had Finney return for a bout against local boxer Ralph Raymond.

By 1908 Wilmington newspapers were calling Finney the bantamweight champion of Delaware and a

From the Morning News 
5-10-1918

favorite at Brandywine Springs. Finney became well known for his speed, his ability to be battered, and most importantly for sending his opponents to pummel city. Local boxers would write letters to the sports editor of the Wilmington newspapers asking to challenge Finney. He was soon boxing regularly at Brandywine Springs and at various venues around Wilmington and eventually Chester, Philadelphia, and beyond. 

Entry in the 1910 US Census

The 1910 Census list Finney’s profession as pugilist while living at No. 4 High Street in Wilmington with his wife Rosa. Webster's dictionary give the following definition for Pugilist: : FIGHTER 
especially : a professional boxer

After Finney became the bantamweight champion of Delaware, he found no shortage of opponents. Potential opponents even published challenges to Finney in the Wilmington newspapers. Finney would often take on men who outweighed him by 20 pounds and at least once fought two men in one evening. The April 1, 1910 edition of the Evening

Evening Journal
4-1-1910

Journal reported that in Philadelphia, Finney defeated Jake Spewak in three rounds. The fans clamored for more and Young Dugan stepped up and challenged him to go three more rounds. Finney took the challenge and bested him too. Official records were not kept, so we do not know the exact dates of all of his fights, nor do we know the length of his reign as champion, but we do know he was active in boxing on and off until 1927 and then trained other boxers in the 1940s. We also know various newspaper reports credit Finney with over 400 wins against only a handful of losses, and reportedly, he was never knocked out.

The Country Roller Rink was located next to Brandywine Springs Park and also served as a venue for fist men to pound the flesh. The bouts at Country Roller Rink quickly gained popularity and boxing flourished at Brandywine Springs, albeit, outside of the park. On May 2, 1910 the Evening Journal reported a boxing card featuring Finney was enough of a draw that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad operated a special train to the rink from Philadelphia and Chester and the Peoples Railway had 30 trolley cars in use to carry eager boxing fans from Wilmington.

After his boxing career ended, Finney, with little formal education and no other marketable skills, fell on hard times. For a while he lived on Klund Street, one of the poorest ramshackle streets in Wilmington, and for a number of years worked as a junk collector and then as a janitor. At one point in the early 1930s he became ill and spent some time in the State Welfare Home where he was nursed back to health. On May 10, 1963, Finney died in a tiny row house at 910 Walnut Street in Wilmington, his achievements from a half century before had largely been forgotten.

Countless African-American athletes from Finney’s era never got the chance to make it as far as Finney, their names and faces are long lost. Finney crossed the color line and made a living as a pugilist. Finney was a pioneer, perhaps, the first African-American athlete in Delaware to earn a living in sports. His story has been Almost Forgotten.